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Tuesday, July 08, 2008

X-Files Junkie Needs Another Fix

It wasn't long after I'd woken up this afternoon. I was sitting on the couch in the living room, checking emails, only half paying attention to the episode of The Sopranos that was on TV. Megan was playing with Soren. The TV went to a commercial. Movie trailer. I glanced up to see a flash of red hair, then the distinctive Duchovny profile. I yelped...and shut off the TV as fast as I could.

Megan looked at me like I was nuts, which I suppose is perfectly valid.

For those who may not be aware, the long-promised second X-Files movie is being released this month. Once I found out they were filming it in B.C., and not L.A., I resolved to avoid as much information about the movie and its plot as I possibly could. (Had they been filming down here, the temptation would have been far too great to seek out any "on location" shooting, and that would have required more than a little research.) I heard a rumor the movie was in production back in December. Once I'd confirmed via IMDB that it was indeed happening, and read a couple of articles so as to ascertain filming location, I cut myself off. No spoilers. No trailers. No photos from the set. Nada. From IMDB, I know three things, and three things only.

1. Aside from David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, Amanda Peet and Xzibit have been cast in the film, as field agents. Any other casting decisions, returning characters from the show (though they killed off most of the good ones), etc. are a complete mystery to me.

2. The movie is meant to be a standalone, "monster-of-the-week" type of thing, rather than a continuation of the "X-Files mythology."

3. The release date is sometime in July.

This third point puts me in a tiny bit of a bind. It is my fervent hope that I will be able to walk into the theater knowing absolutely nothing about the plot, so that every moment is a glorious surprise, and my nearly-nonexistent expectations cannot help but to be surpassed. This is why I have diligently avoided anything that might clue me in at all, even a 30-second trailer. However, by not watching the trailer, and not returning to IMDB, I don't actually know the exact release date. I don't want to wait too long to see it in the theater; once it's been released, the risk of accidental spoilage increases dramatically, what with reviews and interviews and whatnot. Plus, let's face the facts here - I know the whole "standalone" thing is designed to appeal to a wider audience, but by the end of its run, The X-Files had become one of those shows that was like a kid with a face only a mother could love. You know? The die-hard fans would stick by the show no matter what lame-ass, half-cooked idea the writers managed to squeeze out of their worn out creative centers and slap on a page, but no average person would mistake that for any kind of cinematic brilliance. So I don't expect the film to be a blockbuster, and I don't expect it to be around long. And I don't want my trailer and information avoidance to result in my missing the opportunity to see the movie in the theater!

Fortunately, this is not a huge dilemma. I will simply ask Tom to find out when the movie's coming out, and trust that he would not lead astray the woman he supposedly adores above all others for the sake of a good laugh. (Because you wouldn't dream of doing that, right, dearest one?) But just in case he decides it would be far more fun to mess with me, maybe one of you good people could leave the release date in the comments?

8 comments:

Sweet! Now to find a babysitter. And not spend the two hours or however long the movie is worrying about the fact that I'm leaving my 3 month old with someone who isn't his parent. Hmm, this might not be so easy...